


Just Me, You and the Moonflower

by thequeenwechose



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged up characters, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Flower Shop Mai, Just the tea shop Zuko and flower shop Mai au that we all needed, Pining, Slow Burn, Tea Shop Zuko, a few changes from canon, au where Zuko isn't the fire prince, ptsd warning, the war went down differently
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:28:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25455463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequeenwechose/pseuds/thequeenwechose
Summary: Ten years after the war, Mai is running her aunt's flower shop.Next door, the Jasmine Dragon gets a new tea server.
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 69





	Just Me, You and the Moonflower

**Author's Note:**

> We need more Maiko fics so here's my hand at it
> 
> Please read all the tags before :) And another note, most of the characters are aged up to around 26~28

Mai twirled her knife a couple times before stripping a few mint leaves off the plant in front of her.

She checked the inside of her wrist where the ink was running from the list she'd sprawled out earlier. Just a few lemon blossoms left to finish up the bundle for Iroh today. Mai added a few blossoms to the rest of the fresh herbs in her basket and set it on the counter.

Sometimes Iroh would walk over from his tea shop and pick up the herb basket himself like he used to everyday, years ago. But he was older now, like her Aunt Mura, who mostly tended her garden from home while Mai ran things at the shop, but she didn't mind.

The flower shop had given her something to focus on after the war ended. For 16 years, she was just a pawn in the Fire Nation army and nothing else. When her life wasn't completely militarized anymore, the shop gave her a different purpose.

Being a florist wasn't comparable to her previous bounty hunting life. Gardening and potting plants was a joke compared to tracking down enemies of the nation with her band of non-benders. The switch was embarrassing when she was younger, but for years now, she'd taken care of the shop and she was good at it.

Mai dusted off her hands on her apron, getting ready to take the herb basket to Iroh when the bell above the shop door rang, meaning a customer came in.

A new face.

That was rare for the shop, except for travelers now and then, but tourists had a certain look about them that Mai knew. Apart from that, it was the same ladies ordering her herb mixes and handmade jams, the same husbands buying bouquets for their wives, the same teenagers getting a new rose for a different girl every week.

Now a new face with a scar and a story had wandered in.

Mai studied him as he approached the counter.

“You're new,” she stated in place of a greeting.

The man looked up at her from behind dark tresses of hair falling into his eyes. The scar completely covered a part of his face, his left eye nearly shut from the marred skin, it was a wonder if he could even see out of it.

“You must know a lot of people around here,” he said when he reached the counter.

He didn't lean on it like everyone usually did, he seemed like the reserved type, not keen on small talk and very aware of personal space.

“Only everyone.” Mai shrugged. “Looking for anything specific?”

He scratched the back of his neck, looking a little out of his depth.

“I'm supposed to pick up some kind of herbs for my Uncle—for Iroh from—from the tea shop over there,” he vaguely gestured behind him.

Mai's brow lifted, her interest piqued as she folded her arms across her chest. She had no idea Iroh had a nephew and he looked about her age too. Prying wasn't her thing, but she was admittedly curious why Iroh had a secret twenty-something nephew.

She tipped her chin toward the herb basket sitting on the counter. “I usually bring it over.”

“I'm working for him now,” the man, Iroh's nephew, explained as he took the various bundles of herbs from the basket, “He's trying to find things for me to do, I guess. Uh, how much?”

Mai watched as his awkwardly full hands fumbled around for his pocket money. “Iroh pays his tab at the end of the month,” she said.

“Right. I'm still catching up.” He looked a little flustered, but mostly tired, dark circles under the eyes and the works.

Mai sympathized with the guy, new job and all. She masterfully screwed up everything when she first started at the shop, but eventually and not without a lot of humiliation, she learned.

“Here's a tip,” she pushed the basket in his direction, “Take it. I come get it every morning and Iroh gives me a new list of what he needs everyday.”

He seemed surprised but followed her instruction and loaded the herb bundles back into the basket and slid the handle over his shoulder.

“Thanks, Miss...?”

She crossed her arms again. “Mai. Just Mai.”

He gave her a nod. “Thank you. I'm Zuko. Uh, just Zuko, too.”

The guy, “Just Nephew Zuko”, reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver piece. “Here's a tip for you, Mai.” He tossed the coin into the cup and saucer that sat on the counter, apparently thinking it was for gratuities.

“That was my tea.”

Zuko's face flushed red and he rubbed the back of his neck, stammering, “Shit... Sorry, I—”

“Whatever,” Mai shrugged, “It's gone cold anyway.”

She picked up the mug and took it to the back of the shop, “Need anything else?” she asked as she walked away.

“Uh, that's it. Thanks again. See you around, I guess.” He said and left.

Mai poured the discarded tea down the sink and collected the silver piece from the bottom and that was that. Iroh's not so secret nephew didn't cross her mind again for the rest of the day.

-

“Suki, your aura is especially yellow today. Mai, look how bright and optimistic she is.”

Mai looked up from where she scribbling Iroh's list onto her arm. Ty Lee was upside down as usual, bouncing around the shop and pretty much dancing on her hands. While Suki was looking at her reflection in one of the water vases, checking her lipstick.

“You're both a ray of sunshine.”

Mai grabbed her basket and started working down her list of herbs for Iroh.

When she came into the shop that morning, she found the basket waiting outside the door along with Iroh's list for the day. Apparently nephew Zuko brought it over so she didn't have to go pick it up. It was a nice gesture, sure, but Mai didn't care for changes to her routine.

The bell above the shop door rang when Mai was halfway down her list and in walked Zuko.

He looked thrown off by the amount of women inside, especially the one walking on her hands. “Um, hi, Mai. I'm here for the herb basket.”

“I'm working on it now,” Mai said, slicing through a stalk of rosemary with her knife and twirling it through her fingers.

“Oh I'm a little early, I guess.”

Suki and Ty Lee glanced at each other and then back at Zuko.

“Who's your friend, Mai?” Suki asked.

“I would hardly say that.” Mai unscrewed a jar of dried ginger root.

“Zuko,” he said.

Ty Lee bounded over to him in a series of flips and turns, landing on her feet this time with a bounce in her step. “Hello! I'm Ty Lee and this is Suki. We teach acrobatics and martial arts at the Fire Club for Girls. We're Mai's roommates.”

She suddenly threw her feet in the air and cartwheeled away while Zuko watched, looking utterly confused. Mai would offer an explanation, if there was any reasonable explanation for Ty Lee.

“And what about you, Zuko?” Suki asked, “What do you do?”

“I work at Iroh's tea shop next door, he's my uncle.”

“Iroh's the best, he's so funny,” Ty Lee giggled as she balanced on one hand.

“Careful with the circus act, Ty Lee,” Mai warned, “I'm still sweeping up glass from the last broken vase.”

“Oops, sorry, Mai,” she righted herself, “You shouldn't worry so much, though, it's bad for your skin.”

“I'll try to contain my existential dread.” Mai said as she grabbed the basket and headed toward the back door of the shop. “I need to get some lavender from the gardens.”

“I'll help you,” Zuko suddenly offered, probably not wanting to be left alone with Mai's particularly strange friends.

“I got it,” she declined.

“I'll join you then.”

Mai sighed. “Knock yourself out.”

He followed her through the back door and outside into the gardens. He kept a distance away while Mai crouched next to the lavender plants, but she still wasn't shy about brandishing her knife.

In any case, she didn't consider Zuko a threat. During her time hunting down war criminals, she became good at that sort of thing. That wasn't to say he wasn't dangerous. She could tell he was bender the first time he walked in, or some sort of weapon specialist at least. She was good at telling that sort of thing too.

“Nice garden. Not many flowers for a florist, though.”

Something about his comment seemed like he was suspicious. Whatever, as if Mai would be so boring to run some secret covert operation under the guise of a flower shop of all things.

“My aunt grows most of the flowers in her garden at home.”

“My uncle mentioned her.” That seemed to appease him but Mai's curiosity toward this Nephew Zuko was quickly growing into her own suspicion.

“I've known Iroh since I was 16. He's never mentioned you.”

He seemed thrown for a loop, his hand going to the back of his neck. “Distant family, you know. I was in the Earth Kingdom when the war ended for a few years, fixing roofs, building stables and... I ran out of work. So my uncle offered me a job.”

Mai got the sense that wasn't the full story. It didn't exactly take a detective to know he didn't get a scar like that building houses. But whatever, she didn't ask for his life story.

Besides, she wasn't exactly a bleeding poet herself and wouldn't be very forthcoming about her past either, especially during the war.

She hummed noncommittally and didn't say anything else while she finished getting the lavender and they went back into the shop.

“Thank you.” Zuko held out a silver piece when Mai handed him the herb basket.

She stuck out her hand and he placed it in her palm. “You missed my tea this time,” she deadpanned.

A flush crept up his neck onto his face, “Right...” he cleared his throat, “I could make that up to you if you came by the shop.”

Mai shrugged at his somewhat of an offer and he turned to leave.

“Nice meeting you,” he nodded to Ty Lee and Suki on his way out.

“See you around,” Suki smiled while Ty Lee did what Mai could only describe as waving with her toes.

“He seems nice.” Ty Lee righted herself and skipped over to hop onto the counter.

“Are you going to give us a full report on his aura now?” Mai grabbed some of her paper orders that Ty Lee was now sitting on and snatched them from under her butt.

“Well, he—”

“I think she's joking, right Mai?” Suki gave her a desperate look while Ty Lee was wearing the expression of a kicked puppy.

Mai sighed. “Make it quick.”

Ty Lee grinned victoriously. “Well to sum it up... It matches yours.”

Mai blinked and went back to sorting her orders. “Lucky me.”

-

The next few days went by much in the same way. Everyday Mai came in and the basket along with Iroh's list was sitting in front of the shop door. And everyday around the same time, always a little too early when Mai was still working on the list, Nephew Zuko would come to pick up the herb basket.

Sometimes he would follow her out to the garden even when Ty Lee and Suki weren't inside putting on their sideshow. He was just another regular and Mai wouldn't have paid much attention to him if he hadn't thrown a curve into her normal routine.

She still hadn't figured out much else about him, so he remained somewhat of a mystery, which was annoying in itself.

The only thing she found out was something that raised more questions than it answered. She had noticed a young girl hanging around the tea shop now as well, no older than 12 or so and with unnaturally grey eyes. So either Iroh had a secret blind niece too, or Zuko had a secret blind child.

Whatever.

Mai did not have a fixation. She blamed her curiosity on her years as a master of espionage and not because she actually cared.

“Here's your fruit basket, I think I got everything on the list.” Suki announced as she sat the basket on the counter.

“Thanks,” Mai picked out a few fruits that she was going to use to make some preserves to sell in the shop. “You can take the rest back to the apartment.”

Suki then hopped up on the counter herself. “So, Zuko comes around a lot.”

Mai gathered her fruits and took them to the back. “Well he's a customer.”

“That's true. So what do you think of him?”

After rinsing off the fruits, Mai went to work on a mango with her knife. “I don't know him.”

“You must have some opinion of him by now,” Suki pressed on.

“Hardly anything.” Mai said, knowing that Suki wasn't going to leave it alone.

She sighed, adding the sliced mangoes to a jar and after a moment she said, “I think he came here for a new start.” And also, that he was undoubtedly hiding something, but she kept that part to herself.

-

“Hey, knock it off, would you? Someone might see you earthbending, Toph.”

Zuko dusted off the dirt on his hands to stop her from trying to bend it all away. He'd just finished tossing some old wood that was piled behind the shop.

“You gotta relax, Sparky.” Toph dismissed him.

“I told you, my nephew, the Fire Nation is not like you remember,” his Uncle lectured him from the kitchen, “Other forms of bending are encouraged and welcomed here.”

“Yeah, and we're not on the run anymore, Zuko. We don't have to hide like we did in the Earth Kingdom,” Toph went on, “Jet's not going to find us here.”

Zuko shot her a look just for saying that name aloud. “He won't have to if you're going to announce it to a shop full of people. Why don't you just send him a postcard and tell him how great our new city is?”

Toph folded her arms, smirking smugly. “Because I'm blind and I can't write. Any more questions?”

Zuko grit his teeth at her sarcasm and went to wash his hands so he could help his Uncle with the tea orders. He picked up a tray that was ready to be served and handed it to Toph.

“Here,” he leaned down to her height so he could —quietly— yell at her, “Take this to that table and try not to mention the gang of psychopaths that's been hunting us for 5 years.”

She pretended to be confused. “Sounds like a lot, I don't know if—”

“ _Just do it_ —” Zuko started to shout but forced himself to take a breath.

He knelt on one knee in front of her so he was eye level, even though her blank stare was fixed elsewhere. “Toph... You're right, we're going to be okay here and I want you to feel safe,” he said seriously, “But we still have to be careful.”

“I know, but it's fun to light your fuse and just enjoy the show sometimes,” she grinned.

Zuko rolled his eyes. “Just get back to work, kid.” He ruffled her hair before sending her off with the tray.

When he turned back to the counter, he startled for a split second, not expecting to see anyone there, especially not the lady from the flower shop.

“Mai,” he greeted her, “I guess you're here for that cup of tea I owe you.” He was still riddled with shame from the tip in the tea incident. One of his lowest moments.

She slowly tapped her sharp black nails on the counter top. “No I just like watching old people play Pai Sho.” She glanced over at the game table where two ancient guys sat. Zuko couldn't confidently say they were even breathing. “I can hardly contain my excitement.”

“Yeah, gets pretty intense,” Zuko smirked. Strangely enough, he was getting used to her monotonous humor. “What will you have?”

“My regular.”

“Uh,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “You have a regular?”

His Uncle suddenly appeared at his side, happily reciting, “Cinnamon tea with just a drop of spiced honey, and leave the stick.” Then ushered Zuko away to make the tea while he chatted with her.

Zuko was fairly useless at preparing tea, he mostly served, but he started on the next few orders anyway.

“Hello Mai. I haven't seen you in a few days,” his Uncle tried to lower his voice but Zuko was obviously listening. “Now that you've met my nephew, I'll go ahead and apologize for any problems he caused you, he's always been trouble.”

“I see why you kept him hidden,” Mai said, and Zuko knew she was joking but it still made him wary.

“You say the word and I will lock him back inside the tea kettle,” his Uncle bellowed a laugh. “How's your Aunt? As lovely as you are, I hope.”

Zuko cringed, shuddering so hard he spilled a few drops of boiling water on his hand.

“More so,” Mai said, throwing a glance at Zuko as he frantically shook his hand in pain.

“That's what I like to hear.” His uncle said, “And how are things at the Moonflower?”

“Even better,” she said.

“Last I was there, I saw the shop could use some fixing up. I'll send my nephew around for some repairs.”

That's when Zuko sat Mai's tea onto the tray and joined in the conversation.

“If that's okay with you,” he added when he returned to his Uncle's side.

He wanted to make sure his Uncle wasn't throwing an offer at her that she didn't want. Though he probably didn't know the first thing about Mai, something told him she would have no issue rejecting unwanted help.

Mai blinked slowly from behind her dark curtain of hair, her expression blank.

“Sure,” she shrugged.

His Uncle was pleased with her response and went back to the kitchen.

Zuko handed her the teacup with the floating cinnamon stick.

“Here's what I owe you. And uh, careful, it's hot,” he warned even though it was obviously steaming. “Now we're even.”

“Not quite.”

Zuko handed her the tea and before he realized it, she tossed a silver piece over his shoulder. He looked back quick enough to watch it land inside one of the teacups he just prepared for another customer with a clinking noise.

By the time he turned back to Mai to compliment her aim, she was gone.

He walked over and looked at the coin in the bottom of the cup. He guessed they were even _now_.

“Uncle, we're gonna need another green tea.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'll try to update regularly and I hope you guys enjoy this! Any comments or kudos are appreciated :)
> 
> Also, sorry if you don't see some of your favs, I couldn't fit everyone into this plot


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